Constant rain too much of a good thing for Manitoulin Island farm

Constant rainfall has been too much of a good thing for a farm on Manitoulin Island in northern Ontario.

Three Forks Farms has had to pull out of a weekly farmers' market on the island in the town of Kagawong.

"We just don't have enough skilled labour in our workforce right now to be able to support all the crazy growth that is happening on the farm," said Peggy Baillie, who co-owns Three Forks Farms.

Baillie said the higher than normal amounts of precipitation this summer have helped a lot of their vegetables grow faster. But the rain has also been great for weeds and pests.

The farm is certified organic and doesn't use pesticides or herbicides.

"A lot of our weeding is actually done with like human labour with our crew who is amazing," Baillie said.

For pest control, they'll introduce predatory insects, but that can also be time consuming.

Baillie said she and her husband, Eric Blondin, have been running the farm for nine years. Their first four years were in the community of Warren, Ont., east of Sudbury, and then they moved to Manitoulin Island.

"I think any person on Manitoulin would say this much precipitation is not normal," she said.

The conditions are a stark contrast to last season, when Baillie says they had drought conditions in June.

Stuart McCall, owner and operator of McGrows Farms and Gardens in the Sudbury community of Garson, said several days of uninterrupted sunshine would help his crops.

McCall grows a variety of vegetables in open fields and greenhouses.

"We've been moving more and more to growing in the greenhouses because we can shelter the crops from all this rain to some extent," he said.

"If it does get to be a really super hot day, then there's, you know, there's shade provided and we do ventilate as well."

McCall said growing a variety of crops, along with a flock of chickens and ducks for eggs, helps keep the farm profitable despite unusual weather conditions.

Mitch Deschatelets manages Leisure Farms in Sturgeon Falls, between Sudbury and North Bay. His farm also grows a variety of fruits, vegetables and grains.

"For certain crops, it's amazing," he said about the high precipitation this summer.

"We're seeing very good yields in the soybeans and the oats."

Deschatelets said it's also been a great year for their raspberries.

"Right now it's a bumper crop," he said. "It's the most I've seen in a long time."

But Deschatelets said the constant rainfall has been more challenging for other parts of the farm.

Leisure Farms lets customers visit the farm and pick certain fruits themselves, like their strawberries.

"It's hard to get people to come picking during rainy days," he said.

Deschatelets said growing a variety of crops helped them weather a rainy season.

"It definitely helps having more than one crop because every year seems to be good for certain crops and not so good for other crops.".